Tomb Sweeping Day...

Things on this end of the planet have been going well. I was feeling pretty sick a few days ago and mentioned it to one student not really thinking that it would result in bags and bags of fruit being dropped off at my home...but that's what happened. So, that blender I bought (mentioned in last post) is definitely being used. Yay for banana/mango/orange/pineapple smoothies (I hope to pick up a few pounds of strawberries in the city this weekend - to put in the freezer)! I am well cared for by my students!
[picture: This is just a sample of the fruit...there was MUCH more!]

Yesterday I was needing to run an errand on the other side of the town (on the other side of the river that runs through town anyway...). I knew I would be passing Karen's home where her parents live (Karen's off at university in Chongqing) so I decided to bake them a banana bread and drop it off along the way. By the time the banana bread had come out of the oven and I was just about ready to be on my way I got an email (and soon to follow a call) from Karen "SURPRISE...I'm home!!" So it turned out that Karen had decided to take a few days break from school and spend some time with her family. Yay...so exciting!! I told her that I was already on my way over...

Yesterday I was invited to spend Tomb Sweeping Day (today - April 4, 2008) with Karen's family. Tomb Sweeping Day is a national holiday in China and today I found out what it's all about...

I went to the Yang's home at 7:15 this morning to eat breakfast with them. Spicy noodles for breakfast - never thought it would grow on me but it has! Karen's brother-in-law (pictures of his wedding posted in October) then picked us up in the car that him and Karen's sister got for their wedding (this automatically makes him the 'family driver' - including extended family). By 7:45 we were well on our way to the village where Karen's mom grew up and also where her grandfather's tomb is. After driving through the mountains for about 45 minutes we got to the village where we got out of the car and headed to Karen's auntie's home before heading up the mountain. We loaded up on 'picnic/sacrifice' supplies (sticky rice, clothes, chickens -still alive at this point-, pots, pans, bowls, chopsticks, gallons and gallons of water, cutting boards, cleavers, shovels, etc. etc.) and then 30 or so of us started our little trek up to the tomb - about a 1 hour hike. I don't know how they ever got that body up there - it was serious climbing, everyone was helping each other haul themselves and the supplies up the mountain. One person would go ahead and climb up the next steep part and would then (literally) pull everyone else up as well. It was quite crazy! I asked why the body wasn't buried lower where it was more accessible - Karen told me it was because her grandfather wanted a nice view.

This picture isn't nearly as impressive as the real deal...
This shot was taken half way up the mountain.

Once we got up to the tomb everybody started cleaning the place. Leaves were being swept away, branches were being cut, weeds were being pulled out of the ground, more dirt was thrown on the grave 'to make sure his house stays nice' etc. Soon after that the relatives started placing sacrifices in front of the tomb stone - new pants, new shoes, new shirt, new hat, hard liquor, cigarettes, fruit, sticky rice, steamed bread, etc.

The tomb was also covered with burning incense sticks and the chickens were being pulled out of the rice bags ready to be slaughtered and sacrificed. Each of the relatives also took their turn burning hell money (again, to make sure that Karen's grandfather is well off) and bowing in front of the tomb. The whole deal was extremely ritualistic, interesting, and in my opinion also sad.
The sacrifices for grandfather...
The entire family pitched in to prepare lunch. The slaughtered chickens (about 10 of them) were cooked up (every piece of it - no chopped up chunks of nice chicken breast like in North America but the real deal: head, feet, liver, intestines, bones, beak, neck etc.). Even the blood was used as a base for cooking the rice gruel - I cringed as I watched them dump it in!! Anyway, I survived it. I even ate one of the chicken's feet, and there was absolutely no way to avoid the rice cruel (it was either bloody rice gruel or a meal of only chicken intestines, liver, feet etc. - because I was the special guest so everyone kept putting the most 'special' parts of the chicken in my bowl). It really was uhmm...not appetizing at all and I thought of crying but decided to suck it up. Another thing to put on my 'been-there-done-that' list, I guess... This is me eating a chicken foot.

I took many, many more pictures of this experience and posted them on facebook because it happens to be a lot faster and clearer than here on blogspot. Feel free to check them out.

One more exciting little note: Today Karen's sister and brother-in-law (Karen only has 1 sister and no brothers - this is the couple that got married in October) announced that they were going to have a baby!!! Ooh, SO exciting! The baby is due in August (so I probably won't meet it). Karen and I

About 1/2 hour after they made the announcement Karen's sister, Karen's brother-in-law, Karen's parents, and Karen (who had been talking together) came up to me and said they had a special request (Karen did the translating). They asked me ('sister') if I can give the baby an English name because they said I have been a special part of their lives this year and they would like that to continue when I leave (the entire family asked because in China it is custom for older people to name the children. So normally Karen's parents would be naming their grandchildren - it isn't just the parents who decide the name here). They waited for my response with hopeful looks on their faces - "OFCOURSE, I would LOVE to think of a name for your yet unborn child!"

I think it is special because like I mentioned before...they treat me like part of their family. I get to wash the vegetables, sweep the floor etc. - just like them while when I visit other people's homes I am treated like some sort of god. Also, last semester 800 of my students received English names but pretty much they had to pick which name they wanted and it wasn't anything super special. This time around it'll be more meaningful.